Race Week Preparation Guide: The 7-Day Countdown
Race week anxiety whispers two opposite lies: “you need one more hard session” and “you should barely move.” Both steal freshness. The real conflict is protecting fitness you already built versus manufacturing confidence with junk fatigue.
Cut Volume, Keep a Little Snap
Most recreational plans drop weekly volume ~40–60% in race week while keeping short strides or a brief race-pace reminder — not a full interval day. Longer tapers for marathon/half are covered in the tapering guide. Confirm goal pace on the Pace Chart and sanity-check with the Race Predictor early in the week — then stop renegotiating the number daily. Easy days stay conversational; gray-zone “just a little faster” runs add fatigue without confidence.
Worked Scenario: 50 km Peak Week → Race Week
If your last big week was ~50 km, race week might land ~20–30 km total: easy 30–40 min days, one short sharpening session (e.g., 4–6 × 20–30 sec strides or 2–3 × 2–3 min at goal pace with full recovery), and a very easy shakeout the day before. Skip the “just one more 12K tempo.” Sleep and carbs beat hero workouts now.
Carbs, Gear, Sleep — Not New Experiments
Eat familiar foods; nudge carbs up if you normally underfuel (details in race-day nutrition). Lay out bib, shoes, socks, gels, and watch the night before. Protect sleep on nights −3 and −2; race-eve nerves are normal — see pre-race sleep. Do not debut shoes, gels, or a brand-new breakfast.
A short race week cannot create fitness; it can only reveal or hide what training already did. Wearable “recovery” scores are noisy after travel and early alarms — do not add a hard session because Body Battery looked high. If you arrive undertrained, race for experience at a conservative pace rather than inventing a PR plan in the hotel.
Decision Rule
If race week volume is still near peak, or a new workout/gel/shoe appears after Wednesday, cut the extra work and race the rehearsed plan. Fitness is already banked; race week only protects or wastes it.
Race-Morning Checklist Rule
If it was not practiced in training or written on your plan by mid-week, it does not enter race morning. Eat the rehearsed breakfast on the rehearsed timeline, warm up as planned, and start at the checkpoint pace you already chose. Anxiety is not new data — it is noise.